


Await Further Instruction

by TrillianAera



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-28
Updated: 2016-10-28
Packaged: 2018-08-27 13:41:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8403847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrillianAera/pseuds/TrillianAera
Summary: EB: i remember now.EB: i was tricked by a troll into flying up to the last gate, using this rocket pack.EB: she said i could take a shortcut and go kill my denizen while he was sleeping.EB: it...EB: did not quite work out that way.





	

"John, see that big piece of junk there?"

You look around. The Serious Business goggles obscure your vision, and it doesn't help that everything in your house looks like a piece of junk now that the imps have gotten to it. You flash a smile towards your beautiful and loving daughter Casey before you decide on a piece of junk to focus on.

"The rocket pack?" you say.

"Yeah, captchalogue that and send me the code," says GC. "I got the codes for all the other Earth crap stuck inside it from your friends, from different times when they were feeling cooperative. I can make it work for you." She types out one of her signature emoticons with the bracket for a smile.

You think back to when you tried to undo the graffiti on your movie posters by subtracting codes from each other. "Okay," you say, agreeing for the sake of agreeing, "but you can't just subtract object codes from other codes! It's, like, mathematically, um...ambiguous. Like, just reverse AND/OR'ing the flower pot alone could make hundreds of possibilities. Subtracting all three could be millions!" You know a lot about punch card alchemy, and you really like it, and you probably would be able to fix the rocket pack, given the grist and time. But grist is not something you have a lot of. Time even less so.

"Yeah, well," GC says, "I'm not saying I'm anywhere near as huge of a dork as you, or that I understand any of that. Computer codes taste to me like lots of tiny needles and batteries."

"Wow, what?"

"I'm giving all these codes to our hacker guy."

"Oh man, you have a hacker? I bet he is the best! Hackers are always the best."

GC laughs. "Well, he sure thinks he is."

"Who is it? Have I talked to him?"

"No, he says he doesn't want to talk to any of you ever because he hates you. But he will do this, because he won't be able to resist the challenge."

"Uh, okay. Be right back, then."

You captchalogue the rocket pack. You are not nearly as good with your sylladex as you are with punch card alchemy, and your ignorance on this topic has made you a laughingstock more than once in front of your friends. But you might be getting the hang of it now. You look at the code on the back of the rocket pack card. 

"Okay, here," you say, and then you type out the code: dskjhsdk.

"Thanks," says GC. "Wait. Those kinda seem like random key mashings. Are you messing with me, John?"

"Um, no. They sort of are random. But it's the right code, I promise!"

"Oh. Okay, be back in less than one second. Pchooooo!"

While you wait for GC to fix the rocket pack, you defeat the imps crowding around the alchemiter. There's probably no monster you can't defeat with the wrinklefucker. You pick up the grist. GC still hasn't gotten back to you with the code.

"Hello?" you say.

"What?"

"I thought you said you'd be back in less than a second?"

"I was. I gave you the code. It's PCHOOOOO. It took a while for him to figure out, but I gave it to you instantly from your perspective. Why would I make you wait? That would be so inconsiderate."

"Oh...I just thought that was just you going off to get the code...and making, like, this rockety noise or something. I dunno. Because you're kind of goofy."

"Well, you're kind of welcome, you ungrateful Earth horse's noisy butthole!"

"Oh, gosh, I'm sooo sorry! This is just a stupid code. I'm sorry. Are you sure it's right? It seems kind of...obvious."

"He was convinced this is the right code and had some unflattering things to say about the intelligence of your species for not being able to figure it out, which I will keep to myself because, unlike you, I actually have some fucking manners."

"Bluuuh, oh man. I got so served. Bluuuuuh!"

"I am unfazed by your human bluhs. Anyway, if it was so obvious, why didn't you guess the code?"

"Well, you see, the explanation is perfectly simple and scientific. It was because shut up. Shut up is why."

Talking to GC is so frustrating. Even though she's trying to help you, she always ends up insulting you, and then you start arguing with her, and you don't like arguing. But she has been helpful so far, and you're grateful for that. And compared to the rest of the trolls, she's pretty good at trolling. She has her good qualities too. It's just that her bad qualities seem a whole lot stronger.

She types her smiling emoticon again.

"I guess I'll make this rocket now," you say, "and see if this dumbass code actually does the trick."

"Okay, John. Once you make it, I'm sure even you and your underdeveloped bone nook will be able to figure out what to do. Talk to you on the other side."

She stops trolling you.

You run to the study and punch a card with the code PCHOOOOO. You use the totem lathe in your room to carve a cruxite dowel, and then you go back out to the balcony and make the rocket pack. As you strap yourself into it (safety first), you get a message from Dave.

"Okay, I'm in," he says.

You have no idea what that means. "In where?" you ask.

"The Medium."

"Oh, already?"

"What do you mean, already? Shit took four goddamn hours."

"Huh, I guess time flew by while I was doing other stuff. How did it go? With you and Jade, I guess?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Imagine the worst day of my life just stood up and clinked a glass like it was about to make a speech...then took a shit in my dinner and passed out with its pants down."

"Ew, dog! Ewww!"

"Yeah."

"So nasty! Gross, dude!" It is a little gross, you guess, but you're mostly just exaggerating your reaction because you know he thinks it's lame.

"STFU," he says. "What are you doing?"

"I'm in a rocket pack, and I am about to blast off into space." You know he'll think that's lame, too. 

"Okay," he says. You're a little disappointed he didn't react better.

"It should be sweet."

"I need some advice." He could've gone on and on about how ridiculous you sound right now, but you guess he has better things to worry about. You give it up.

"My kernelsprite," he continues, "which was this brainless, feathery asshole with a sword in it, turned into this bigger, like, ghostly, feathery asshole. With a sword in it. It seems to want me to prototype it again. Not sure what to do."

You can't fathom why he would be asking you for advice on this game. The only things you've done so far are things that Rose or GC or the clown ghost of your dead grandmother have told you to do, and you don't really have any understanding of how anything actually works. "Hmm...have you asked Rose?" Rose always knows what to do.

"She's asleep for some reason."

"Wow, really?"

"Yeah, I saw here there, all tuckered out. Like she got smacked in the face with a pillowcase full of the snooze wizard's beard dander. 'Cause obviously it's fuckin' prime time for swiping some shuteye about now, like, a few hours into her magic stupid quest. Anyway, what do you think?"

"I don't really know. I mean...it's supposed to be, like, your ghostly spirit guide or something. Unless you have the remains of a wise old dead grandparent lying around, I'm not sure what to tell you!"

"Okay, fine, but it seems to be suggesting something here. And...I guess I'm kinda weirded out by its suggestion."

"I don't know, just do what it says! It knows stuff about the game, so it probably knows better than I do. I gotta go! Gonna blast off to the seventh gate. And, uh, win this game, I guess."

"Okay, well, it definitely sounds like you're fucking something up over there, but alright. Later."

You roll your eyes. "Later."

You realize that your house, overrun by imps, is absolutely no place for children, so you captchalogue dear, sweet Casey to protect her.

And then you blast off. The gates are high above your planet, but that can't stop you anymore. You bypass the first six gates and go straight up to the seventh.

 

The gate spits you out in front of the denizen's palace. It's imposing, to say the least. All the pipes on the planet, it seems, have either their end or their beginning here. The building itself is made of stone, with towers and pipes rising from the ground, tall enough to pierce through the clouds. Oil gushes out of openings in the stone and falls into the moat surrounding the castle. But the moat is not filled, or even close to being full.

The staircase ahead of you leads you down to the moat. There used to be a bridge there, but it's been broken. Part of it hangs down the rocky face on the other side. 

You glance at the gate next to you. This is a return node, and if you go through, it will take you back to your house. You're tempted to use it. From afar, the denizen's palace seemed exciting, but now that you're here, it's just scary. But you'll have to face your denizen at some point, and it's not like he can hurt you if he's asleep. You use your rocket pack to cross the moat. That's probably not what you were supposed to do. You were probably supposed to find a way to fix the bridge or something. It would be another puzzle that you have to solve to complete your quest. But your quest isn't about solving puzzles anymore. You might fix the bridge later, though. 

You skirt the edge of the palace, looking for a door. You run your hand along the cold stone walls. A gust of wind blows. The pipes whisper. You don't find a door, so you go in through one of the openings for the oil. It's bigger than it looked from the top of the staircase. There's a groove carved into the ground for the oil to run through, and there's more than enough space for you to walk next to it. The tunnel is long.

It leads you to what you can only assume is the palace's main room. It's circular, and the ceiling is high. You feel like Jack after he climbed the beanstalk, and this must be the home of the giant. Everything is too big for you. A fountain in the center of the room spews oil that runs into grooves in the ground and through the tunnels around the perimeter. 

You take out the wrinklefucker. The final boss fight is coming up, and that means there are going to be underlings in this castle. You don't see any, but you don't want to get caught off-guard. 

There's a door on the other side of the room. The rivers of oil cut the floor into sections, and you jump over them. You feel lighter than usual. 

You have to put down your weapon while you pull open the door. It takes all your strength, and you're out of breath by the time you get it open. You pick up the hammer and drag it through the hallway.

You still don't see any underlings, which is eerie, and you hear a low rumbling throughout the palace, which is eerier. You go through the first open door you see, because you think if you open any more of those heavy doors, you won't have enough strength left to defeat your denizen.

You find yourself in a stairwell. You've been warned about the dangers of stairs, so you're prepared to face them in battle. You descend safely, without falling. You creep along, hammer at the ready, but you don't see any monsters. The rumbling grows louder. You get the unsettling feeling that you're not supposed to be here.

You continue on your way through the palace. The hallways are winding, and it's cold, and a gust of wind blows. Normally, you like wind, but when it whistles through the pipes like this, combined with the rumbling and the sound of running oil and the way the wind made its way inside the building, it sends chills down your spine. You don't see a single enemy, but you can't let your guard down yet. Not until Typheus is dead.

You really feel like you're not supposed to be here. Not yet, anyway. You want to ask GC if she's really sure about this, but she doesn't answer when you message her. You guess she has better things to do than pull you along every step of the way. You steel yourself and keep going.

As you descend more stairs, the rumbling gets louder. Is it the sound of Typheus snoring? Can you take this as reassurance that he really is asleep? Your footsteps on the stone floor are suddenly unbearably loud.

You reach the bottom of another flight of stairs. The door is ajar, and you squeeze through without having to open it much further. You find yourself in a courtyard of sorts. A pipe organ stands in the center. You approach it, and in your excitement, you splash through puddles of oil and get your shoes and pants dirty. You put your hammer on the ground at your feet. Your hands hover over the keys, poised to play.

A loud snore echoes throughout the palace. Startled, you flinch, and your fingers almost hit the keys. You rethink playing the organ. Wouldn't want to wake Typheus. You pick up your hammer and step back. 

It's obvious when you come to the denizen's room. The door is closed, but the spirograph symbol is engraved on it, along with a depiction of Typheus. It isn't as heavy as the other doors. You push it open.

You nearly shit your pants when you find Typheus awake.

You drop the hammer and scramble to pick it up, holding it in front of you as threateningly as one can when he's screaming at the top of his lungs and trying to back out of the room. He was supposed to be asleep, GC said he would be asleep, you  _heard_ him snoring, but here he is, awake and ready for you, and there is absolutely no way you are going to be able to defeat him. Sure you've fought underlings and imps and the like, and sure you've gotten better, and sure the wrinklefucker is an amazing weapon, but you don't stand a chance. You shouldn't have listened to GC. You should have known this was a prank. You should've turned back when you had the chance, but now it's too late and you're going to die, and you never even found your dad.

Typheus grumbles something in a low voice. It's not like you know what he said, but you somehow understand perfectly. You stop in your tracks and lower the hammer, gaze fixed on your denizen.

"Hi," you breathe. "Sorry."

Typheus continues talking. He speaks in riddles, and yet you know exactly what he means.  _Why are you here?_

"A friend of mine said I should come here now. I know it's not technically time for me to be here yet, but she said that you would still be asleep. I was going to--" You stop yourself. You neglect to tell him that you were planning on killing him. You're sure it wouldn't go over well, and in any case, you get the feeling he already knows. "It was supposed be, like, a shortcut. To win the game. I'm sorry."

 _There are no shortcuts._ You realize that now. 

"Yeah, so I think I will just go back...and start from the beginning." You point to the door and inch towards it. He stops you again.

He says you can still try to kill him if you want. If you think you can. You shake your head. Even if you were ready, even if you had been through the first six gates, even if you had cycled through the four planets and fought off countless underlings and climbed to the very top of your echeladder, you still wouldn't be able to kill him. And even after you do everything you're supposed to do before facing the denizen, this experience you're having right now will resurface, and you'll be intimidated. You won't have the courage to do it. You're sure of this. Typheus is invincible to you.

But there is still something you need to do here. Typheus seems to know it. He says you can try to kill him, or he can offer you a choice. You don't really want to make a choice. This decision seems too important for you to be making on your own. 

"I really think I will just leave," you say, but Typheus keeps talking, and you feel like you have no choice but to listen. The way he talks reminds you of Rose, if Rose were a big green snake monster who spoke directly into your brain.

 One the one hand, you can continue living your life here. Typheus will let you go, no harm done to either you or him. You will be able to continue making progress in the game, and you will presumably, at some point, make it back to the denizen's palace, at which time you will kill Typheus, release the grist hoard, perform the ultimate alchemy, and win the game. But you have presumed incorrectly, because you will not be able to win this game. You can live out the rest of your life here, but it will be a short life, and ultimately meaningless. That's one option.

The other option is to let Typheus kill you now.

"Why would that be a better choice?" you ask.

_It's up to you to decide if it's a better choice or not._

"I know, but it seems like there is nothing good about it at all. Like, can you explain...?"

If you allow Typheus to kill you here, the Witch of Space will be unable to enter the game. She will die in the Reckoning, and only the Seer of Light and the Knight of Time will be left in the Medium. There is no way to win the game with a dead hero of space, and the remaining players will be trapped, unable to make any meaningful progress. They will be driven to desperation, and in this desperation, the Knight of Time will go back and stop you from coming here. In doing this, he will create the new alpha timeline, one in which you don't meet your denizen until you're supposed to, and you successfully bring the Witch of Space into the game, and in addition to that, you will stop the prototyping of a very dangerous juju.

You ask what a juju is. 

Typheus tells you that it's a magical artifact with powerful and mysterious capabilities, and in the process of explaining jujus to you, he explains everything else. He tells you that in the alpha timeline, you will be responsible for the creation of yourself and of your friends, and of their guardians, and you will fully realize your potential as an Heir of Breath, and you will reset your universe to give yourself another chance.

"So then does that mean we will win the game?"

And it does. You will win the game, and after so many travails and so much hardship, which Typheus explains at length while you listen with rapture, you and your friends will create a new universe.

That sounds ideal to you, and it is, but it can't happen in this timeline. This timeline is doomed. Another has to be created, and it can't be created without your death here and now.

Typheus gives you a minute to think about it, but you don't even need to.

The right decision has never been clearer.


End file.
